Associated British Ports (ABP) has exchanged contracts on the purchase of the freehold 227.5-acre site, known as Stallingborough Interchange.
Located two miles from the Port of Immingham and six miles from the Port of Grimsby, the prominent site is earmarked for commercial port opportunities including automotive, bulk warehousing, distribution and logistics uses, advanced manufacturing, as well as green energy initiatives.
Outline planning consent has been secured by North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) for up to 1.3m sq. ft of B1 (Business), B2 (General Industrial) and B8 (Storage and Distribution) which was approved in 2018.
Also referred to as Pioneer Business Park (PBP), the site also benefits from good road connectivity; its strategic position, directly adjacent to the A180 dual carriageway, leads to Grimsby and local motorway networks. The site is also connected to the Humber Link Road, the new port connection road built in 2021 that links Immingham and Grimsby.
PBP is a strand of the South Humber Industrial Investment Programme (SHIIP) which has so far seen the Myenergi development and HETA facilities created on the site, with other opportunities in the pipeline.
Given the emerging demand in the automotive sector from new entrants and drivers converting to electric vehicles (EV), ABP plans to submit an outline planning application for up to 80 acres of automotive logistics on the site in early 2024.
Simon Bird, ABP's Regional Director of the Humber said: “This is an important milestone in the future growth of the Humber ports. It demonstrates the need for strategic investment in land to facilitate the continued growth of ABP and to maintain the Humber ports leading position in the UK, as well as significant investment in the region for jobs.
“As demand is expected to increase for energy generation, automotive storage, bulk warehousing, and storage and distribution uses our space constraints within our ports will increase. This additional land will ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities, and technological innovation for new and existing customers.”
Greg Lacey, Head of Property - Humber, ABP said: “It’s always a challenge to bring forward a site of such significant scale and I’d like to personally thank NELC for all the investment in time and costs to get it to this stage. We now pick up the baton to bring to fruition our shared ambition to create a major UK port logistics development.
“This is a unique opportunity, assembled by ABP working collaboratively with NELC and three other landowners. The site is the largest development land parcel in such proximity to the ports, and of significant scale versus wider opportunities in the Yorkshire region. It is unlikely any opportunity of the same size will be coming to the market for some time. The sizeable investment we have made in this shows ABP is a key player in supporting the growth of commercial activities within the region.”
Cllr Philip Jackson, Leader of NELC, said: “The sale has realised the opportunity to see development accelerated at Pioneer Business Park at a pace and is likely to bring with it a variety of benefits, including additional investment, facilities, and jobs locally.
“I’d like to thank ABP for coming to the table with the proposals, and for creating what will be one of the biggest single developments in the area in recent times.”